Lady Gaga rocks, plain and simple

A few weeks ago, our opinion editor decided to take a look at Stephani Germanotta, better known by her stage name of Lady Gaga, who he believes to be “mediocre,” “arrogant,” and “unoriginal.” As usual, Aaron Gonzalez and I are not entirely on the same page, as Lady Gaga is one of my personal favorite artists.

According to him, Lady Gaga’s music does not have a message of individualism or identity. On the contrary, “Born This Way” is a song about accepting others, as well as yourself. “Scheiße,” while half sung in German, is a song about female empowerment. Meanwhile, “The Edge of Glory” is an empowering song about living life to the fullest.

Sure, Lady Gaga has her songs about sex and drinking, but so does pretty much every artist for the past 60 years. At least Lady Gaga’s songs aren’t nearly as meaningless as other modern artists. Katy Perry is singing about alien sex, while Nicki Minaj is dancing around in ugly booty shorts, and Chris Brown is making singles that I personally can’t even remember the names of.

Gaga has also been accused of being unoriginal, and being just a copy of Madonna. So she dresses in crazy clothes and has a habit of pissing off the Catholic Church. I think there’s plenty of room in this world for both of them. And by now, all music, art, and even literature have all been done already. People have to borrow bits and pieces of everything to make art.

Yes, perhaps some of Lady Gaga’s outfits are a little out there. A dress made of meat is a little crazy for my taste. However, at least she has the guts to wear what she does. It is inspirational to a lot of people, myself included, see someone confident enough to wear something completely out there and be fine with it.

Besides, I don’t see any of Lady Gaga’s critics getting on stage with a lobster hat on their heads or nothing but red lace on. When more of the Gaga naysayers can make me feel as confident as she has, maybe I’ll listen to them.

Gonzalez also said in his article that it is condescending that Lady Gaga “acts as the leader of the gay community.” I’d have to disagree. Why is it a bad thing that someone wants to speak up for the LGBT community? With teen suicides in the LGBT community climbing due to bullying, it seems like a good thing that someone is willing to speak up for them. I’m not saying Gaga is the only one, but she is looked at by many as the “Queen” because of her activism.

I think there are plenty of people who would love to thank Gaga for her inspirational words “Whether life’s disabilities left you outcast, bullied, or teased, rejoice and love yourself today, ‘cause baby you were born this way.” The song is not just for the LGBT community, although it does definitely serve as a pretty good anthem. It serves for anyone. Lady Gaga’s message speaks to everyone about being self-confident, believing in oneself, and loving oneself no matter what.

So yes, Lady Gaga will always draw criticism. However, she will continue to speak to millions of Little Monsters out there, including this one.